About LauraBelle

I’m not too happy with what I hear they’re doing in the beginning of the Race, and that’s eliminating a team before they even get to leave from the starting line. I hate when that happens on reality shows. It just doesn’t seem fair. I’m going to wait and see how it plays out, and I’m hoping they at least get to do a challenge before they’re eliminated. Here’s a preview of the cast. Which team do you think it is leaving first?

We start off in the early morning hours in L.A. and we’re at a Los Angeles river that is used as a location in movies. It’s from here that the twelve teams will start out. Brian and Ericka have been married two years. As a former Miss America, she feels it’s prepared her for what she is today. Brian is excited to show America what being in love with all about, no matter their skin color. Lance and Keri are engaged, and he feels they’re the powerhouse team going in. She thinks he’s the perfect person to run the race with, because he’s smart and a trial attorney. I’m not liking them so far. Maria and Tiffany are professional poker players and expect their gaming ways will really help them here.

Zev and Justin are best friends, and Zev was diagnosed with Aspberger’s at age 11. Justin adds Zev says what’s on his mind and is as honest as you’ll find. I like them. Mike and Canaan are newly dating, and he’s a songwriter with a song on the charts right now and is also “a follower of Christ.” She hopes they can pray about the race. We’ve said this before here. Does God really have time to follow reality shows? Flight Time and Big Easy are Harlem Globetrotter teammates and like the poker players, think being a game player will help, along with being used to the traveling. They also believe they’ll be the best looking team to win.

Sam and Dan are Christian conservative brothers. They both came out to each other as being gay and high-fived each other. Gary and Matt are father and son, and Matt recalls not doing anything together when he was growing up, as Gary seems to have big regrets about that. Eric and Lisa are married yoga instructors, and she finds people have expectations about them, but he thinks they’re like yoga in the ‘hood.

Garrett and Jessica have been dating on and off, and he says he grew up with a brother and isn’t used to the female drama, while she is from a Colombian family of strong women, and it seems this is where they clash. Marcy and Ron have been dating for one year and met on the Internet. He’s the worrier, and she’s the one with the positive outlook. Meghan and Cheyne are dating as well, but met in elementary school, where she beat him playing tetherball. He admits she’s the best athlete he’s ever met.

Phil greets everyone and tells them their first clue is waiting with the luggage they brought. When he says go, they’ll run over to retrieve their bags and the clue, and begin their journeys. Yet, there’s a catch they won’t like. A new challenge will have a devastating effect on one team, making it a very short race. Just beyond the backpacks is their first challenge, and the details are in the clue. The team that doesn’t finish the challenge will be eliminated right now.

“The world is waiting for you. Good luck. Travel safe. Go!”

The teams read they’ll be flying to Tokyo, but must first search a wall of license plates and find one of only eleven from a certain district in Tokyo. It can be noticed because of the Japanese symbol. Wow. This is nerve-wracking already. Sam and Dean notice the symbol at the top of the clue to show what they’re looking for on the plates and don’t think anyone else does.

Gary and Matt give their plate to Phil, but are wrong. Brian and Ericka, Eric and Lisa, Meghan and Cheyne, all get it wrong as well. Justin realizes there is no way the show is expecting them to know Japanese, and that’s when he sees the symbol on the clue. Maria and Tiffany get it correct, as Tiffany calls Maria her “Asian lucky charm.” Marcy and Ron, Meghan and Cheyne, get it right. Lance and Keri get it wrong, as do Sam and Dan, but Flight Time and Big Easy get it right. Gary and Matt get it right the second time around, as Eric and Lisa get it wrong for a second time. Zev and Justin get it correct, as do Sam and Dan, Mika and Canaan. Brian and Ericka get it wrong for the second time, and Lance and Keri get it wrong yet again. He says he’s used to adversity as a “street lawyer.”

Garrett and Jessica get it right, and Brian and Ericka finally get it. There is only one plate left and two couples, the yoga instructors and the lawyer and his fiance. Lance and Keri finally get it right and are on their way to Tokyo. Eric and Lisa are eliminated before they even leave L.A. The only good thing here is that they can’t let anyone know yet that they lost the show, so they can’t go home and have to spend this time until the race is done somewhere else. So at least they get some type of vacation out of it. Lisa says she was looking forward to this, but it’s life and onto the next adventure. Eric feels they took a beating for everyone else, as Lisa adds “We set them free.” Well that’s looking on the bright side.

Mr. Trial Attorney who feels he has everything going for him, is blaming the one that is so happy to be on the race with him, saying it was her job to read the clue, therefore her fault if they came so close to not making it. Wow, too bad he’s taken.

The first six teams to get the license plates will leave on an American Airlines flight at 12:45 PM, while the remaining five teams will leave on a United Flight at 1:15 PM. The Globetrotters meet Zev and Justin. Zev jokes he plays with the Globetrotters for a living, and Big Easy jokes he’s an M.I.T. grad. Marcy is calling the license plate challenge intense, and Maria and Tiffany lie about what they do for a living, saying they work with an organization that deals with homeless kids, instead of admitting to being professional poker players.

Once the teams get to Tokyo, they’ll need to find a television studio at the base of Tokyo Tower. The American Airlines flight lands, and the teams race off to find the shuttle. Maria and Tiffany miss the shuttle, making them them behind everyone else. They already argue, as Tiffany says getting frustrated isn’t productive, and Maria says she wishes she’d be realistic instead of sugarcoating everything. They agree not to talk right now. Flight Time is telling their cab driver to “Andale andale,” but Big Easy points out that’s a different language.

The United Airlines flight arrives a half hour early to the delight of all the Racers it’s carrying. Marcy and Ron from the first flight are stunned to see Sam and Dan from second flight driving behind them, as are Tiffany and Maria. The brothers think it’s funny that the girls are going to try and flirt, but won’t get anywhere with them. Mika and Canaan get a “killer cabdriver” who rides on the shoulder to pass the other teams.

The tactic works, as Mika and Canaan are the first team to arrive at the television studio, and going in find a studio audience going crazy. Sam and Dan run in next to more applause, as do Meghan and Cheyne who were talking before they arrived that it would be neat if it was a Japanese game show, which it now appears it is. Marcy and Ron run in, as do Gary and Matt, and Flight Time and Big Easy. Brian and Ericka are running outside still, and Tiffany and Maria are as well, talking about needing to go to the bathroom. Don’t do that! That didn’t work out so well last time for Kisha and Jen. Brian and Ericka make it in, as do Maria and Tiffany. Assumably, they took my advice. Lance and Keri run in last.